Why Buy a PC Preloaded With Linux?

Shadow7789 writes "I have been in the market for a new computer for the past few weeks and I know that I want to run Linux on it. However, every time I look at (for example) Dell's computers that are preloaded with Linux, the question pops into my head: 'Why should I buy a PC preloaded with Linux?' They are more expensive, and it's not hard just to reformat the PC with Linux. I hate paying the Microsoft Tax as much as anybody else, but if paying that 'tax' allows companies to reduce my price by bundling with my PC products that I will never use, why wouldn't I just buy a Windows-loaded PC and reformat?"

Comments

Re:Well, for one thing..

[WK2]

and this is exactly why 1997 through to 2008 have all failed to become the year of Linux on the desktop.

2008 hasn't failed to become the year of Linux on the desktop yet.

Re:Well, for one thing..

[sammy baby]

So far so good, you were up $350 for your choice, which is a nice sum of money. Now, we need to look at the cost side of the choice. Let's value your time at $50 per hour and any distro would require a minimum of one hour's worth of time for the reformat, install and setup. So, up $300, which supports your point. As long as any problems took less that 6 hours, it was a net plus. Did the installation and setup go flawlessly? Attempting to monetize every last aspect of your life may bring joy to some contractors, but it's not necessarily a great way to bring peace of mind. Besides, as a former contractor, I can think of precisely zero times when I've thought to myself, "Damn, I wish I'd gotten this software pre-installed on my home PC - now it's stopping me from billing hours on my day job!"